I was looking through my .docs and found this one titled 'nihilism'. Curious to see what I wrote on that, I opened it...it was a blank page.
Why should there be such a thing as Absolute Zero, or absolute cold; a degree of coldness beyond which nothing can go, and yet, as far as we know, no upper limit on temperature at all, millions, billions, trillions of degrees, vastly hotter than a human can imagine, yet still no limit in sight? Is this not a decidedly asymmetrical, unbalanced aspect of the universe? And why should humans be so relatively close to the cold end than the other end, if there is an upper end? And just how 'absolute' is it?
Why is 'batshit' considered so crazy? Bats have natural processes too and guano can make great fertilizer and sometimes bomb component.
I think the notion that "power corrupts" is one of those things humans have heard and mindlessly repeat...I don't buy it at all. I think a pauper peasant can be as corrupt as anyone, but who could tell, except maybe his wife...maybe his animals. You only see corruption from the powerful because they have the means to display their corruption to the world, the peasant does not.
I have definitely been on Facebook too much lately. I never met the man, have no idea what he looks like but I actually dreamed of Bob Dobbs...looked much like Chaz Bono.
Hubble Deep Field
I think if you can watch and understand that video and still care about online drama queens, you gotz srs probs.
If you have Netflix access, you can watch the Star Trek TOS episode Return to Tomorrow in the instant lineup. Otherwise, perhaps you would go to Memory-Alpha and check out that episode. The major theme of the episode is a DUMB premise...who can say why?
Then again, we may never make it to have Mars colonies...two examples of why the human species MUST become extinct: THIS and the fact that the Library of Congress is preserving EVERY tweet for posterity.
In keeping (hopefully) with an idea here to blog some about "stuff that matters", I present a small selection of articles that may stir the pot some...aside from the "he's a doody head" pot....
So, we elected a progressive President (amid howls from the right that "he's a Socialist!") who would finally take some actions that benefit the people instead of Wall Street...or not so much, as is pointed out in this article which asks Why Is President Obama So Anxious To Cut Social Security? Why indeed? From the article: "Under the law, Social Security is financed by the designated Social Security tax. It does not contribute to the deficit, since the law prohibits payments from being made if there is not money in the Social Security trust fund." It seems obvious to me that another minority - genuine Progressives - are now prohibited from holding high office.
An observation: A friend on Facebook commented to me that she had recently dealt with a couple of 20-something college students who thought Hitler "had something to do with WWII" though they had no idea what, nor had ever heard of "The Holocaust". Perhaps this is somewhat more encouraging than thinking that Hitler fought against Robert E. Lee in the 1600's in the Civil War?
You are in control! is a mantra shouted ad nauseum by people completely under the delusion that they actually are in control of their lives and what goes on around them. This is a terrific article that points out that you are not nearly as "in control" as you might think, and furthermore, you don't know that. One small example: Push that "door close" button in the elevator and the door closes, thus you have closed the door, duh! Actually, those buttons were only installed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and they are only used by service and emergency personnel WHO HAVE A KEY! Without inserting the key, push the "door close" button all day and it means nothing, the door automatically closes anyway...this one reminds me of people who pray...or those chickens who peck the button to get a shot of food...and who will continue to peck their beaks down to a bloody stump long after the food shots have stopped.
Speaking of buttons, levers, etc. perhaps you notice that voting now usually consists of pressing buttons or levers. When you do that for a presidential candidate, your poor deluded brain tells you "I have done my civic duty, I have participated in my government, have helped determine the course of my nation." Umm...yeah, can you afford fries with that? Even if you really believe that your "vote" is actually counted, even if you completely disregard the Electoral College, which actually elects presidents (sometimes), even if you likewise disregard the Supreme Court, which also elects presidents...the person you voted for is actually president! What are the chances he's gonna do what you want him to do? How many hundreds of millions can you pay donate? I once stayed in a motel, while I was on the road as a truck driver. The room was stifling hot and I turned the thermostat way down to about 60. After a half hour or so I was not noticing any change, so I called room service, thinking the thing may be broken. Turns out the thermostat in my room - and all the other rooms - was only a decorative item which had no actual function. It wasn't connected to anything. "You mean I can't control the temperature in my own room!?" I asked. "No sir, we do that from here", was the reply.
I only found that one once, but I found it. It happens all the time in big office buildings. You might be very surprised if you actually started paying attention to the little things you think you have all under control. Maybe some of the big things too?
I wonder why it is that some on the left put the notion of abolishing the Fed in the same category as flouride in your water and Area 51....especially since there probably IS flouride in your water and there really is an Area 51? Ron Paul and maybe a few others actually in Congress, have proposed abolishing the Fed and returning to "the gold standard". The gold standard is pure bunk and would benefit no one except the very richest who own all the gold. However, the nation's government, in our case, Congress, should indeed be the body solely responsible for creating, printing and issuing currency for the use of the citizens.
Think about it... why should we citizens be instantly saddled with "a national debt" because we have borrowed money from a totally private enterprise - the Federal Reserve - which has nothing whatever to do with the government, except to make money from it, when we could just as easily, as a nation, via Congress, print and issue our own currency at zero interest and thus avoid this completely artificial "debt"?
It didn't used to be that way. Many of the Founding Fathers warned and fought against the money supply being handed over to private bankers to be used as their personal "cash cow". It didn't happen this last time until the Federal reserve Act of 1913.
Will it change? No. Even if you would like it to change...even if you vote for members of Congress and a President who promise change? No...remember, YOU don't control diddly about government, when it comes to anything that really matters. Judging by videos made at the time, millions of Soviets thought they were Communists in a Communist system under Stalin too. Silly humans, freedom is for rulers. "How fortunate for leaders that men do not think". -Adolph Hitler.
Many years ago I coined the following "motto" for myself: "I would rather hear the single worst truth in the universe than ten thousand beautiful lies". I still feel that way. Always, without exception, when I learn that someone has lied to me, I feel betrayed, belittled, disrespected. Even if the truth that I discover is horribly unpleasant, I still feel a great sense of satisfaction upon knowing it, that no number of beautiful-sounding lies can counter. I strongly suspect that in this attitude or outlook, I am a member of an extremely tiny minority of humans.
Most humans seem to take offense upon learning that they have been lied to; yet nearly all these same humans gladly embrace all manner of other lies until/unless something forces them to see a truth; and these same humans will not hesitate to lie if they believe doing so helps them or advances their agenda. This is a successful survival strategy more often than not in evolutionary terms, which is perhaps the main reason it persists. Yet it is also a huge retarding factor in many areas of human progress, since problems can never be dealt with effectively and overcome until the truths about the problem are known and accepted.
Lying is not a uniquely human trait; other primates have been shown to engage in the behavior. A lower level monkey may lie to his group by screaming a warning of danger, when no danger exists, in order to give him time to finish the food he would probably not otherwise get...it would likely be taken from him by higher ranking members. Obviously this is a part of our innate nature from long before humans existed. We must remember that, in evolutionary terms, in genetic drives, survival is the goal, not being honest. Many of us like to think that we humans have overcome this, that we have developed a "moral sense" which overrides this particular survival instinct. Yet, when it is actually tested, it is shown that this is very seldom the case.
For the majority of humans, lying is simply life, whether on a personal level or national or any other level. Very few Americans would EVER vote for any politician who actually spoke the truth, even though very few Americans would even recognize many of the truths spoken. But a few would be recognized, and that would be enough to put the candidate in the "also ran" column. This is one of the many reasons why I long ago gave up any hope I may once have had that humans will ever progress very much in the areas of what most claim to believe are the "best" aspects of humanity; kindness, compassion, empathy, generosity, good will toward all. The truth is that very few humans actually consider these good things except in abstract philosophical terms, or when they are on the receiving end. If there is a cost involved; when the facade of "civilization" slips slightly during "hard times", lying, cheating, greed, even violence and murder, can quickly replace these supposedly "higher aspects of our nature".
Is it not odd that probably most people would indeed consider these; the empathy, kindness, compassion, etc., the better or "higher" aspects of our nature...but ONLY when they are easily affordable? I don't think it is odd at all if you remember that we are, in fact, animals, with most of the inherited "survival strategies" of all our ancestors still embedded in our genetic code and in the workings of our brains. This will never change, it CANNOT change, until those who understand this and who have the will and ability TO change it on a molecular level start to do so. If humanity were seen as a single entity, perhaps we could see that it would be so incredibly, hopelessly, insane that it has no possibility of long term survival. We have existed as "anatomically modern humans" for only about 6 minutes on the Cosmic Calendar Year; a mere blink of time in the history of our planet. We have only had writing for about 10-15 seconds. Dinosaurs ruled for tens of millions of years, and probably would still be the dominant life form here, except for random events.
I have no doubt at all that humans, as we currently understand the term, will soon reach the end of our "blink". We are, as far as we know, the only living things to have ever had the capacity to understand and direct our own evolution. We have yet done very little in that regard. The only two possibilities are that we will adapt or die; the Absolute Dictum of evolution. If something arises from the ashes of humanity, it may well become the pinnacle, at least in this section of the universe, of genuinely intelligent life. If not, we will join the millions of other now extinct species, the "also ran" candidates. Which would you genuinely prefer?
I would prefer that genuine intelligence emerge, guided by "the better angels of our nature". As long as I am able I will likely engage in talking, blogging, debating issues of the day because, for me, what else is there? I am always thrilled and excited when I learn of new discoveries that offer real hope of vastly improved and extended human lives, even while knowing that I personally will almost certainly never benefit from them. It is for such reasons that I remain grateful for the one universally accessible and applicable escape from the psychosis that is humanity.
From a "God's eye" view of this planet and its creatures, especially us, the whole thing would be comical, were it not for the genuinely unimaginable amount of pain and suffering, so much of it self inflicted. Our tools have changed enormously...WE have not, because, to this point, it has been impossible. It is now becoming possible; whether we recognize it and use it remains to be seen. For now... Ecclesiastes 9, [adjusted].
9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the [bad]... .
9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart;...
:7
9:9 Live joyfully with whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, ...for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
9:10Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
9:11 ... the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
9:12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
9:16 ...Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
9:17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one [fool] destroyeth much good.
So...many Americans sit in front of their computers and/or TVs and see what's going on in the world and most never see much at all of what's going on in the world...we see a lot of the results, when it's far to late to change the course. Of course we were never invited into the wheel house in the first place. Much of what is going on is hidden; talked about and planned behind closed doors, much of it by organizations and people you never heard of. Apparently this state of affairs has now come (openly - HA!) right into the middle of the US Congress. Something called a Super Congress (find THAT in the Constitution), a "committee" within Congress which essentially does as it pleases, without open debate, without amendments to bills, and we find out about what it did, if at all, only AFTER we are in the bent over with trousers dropped position. "The power struggle trumps process entirely. The committee is designed for power, not for transparency and accountability." Source.
You and I go to our favorite news sources, some even scan several of the others, and we only get, at best, a very cloudy and diluted look at what's happening. This is mainly due to the fact that the media has long since stopped being a tool of the public with which we rein in governments and corporations; now most media are simply the propaganda arms of the various factions within governments and corporations; their purpose being to soothe and distract the masses. There are exceptions of course, there are times when accurate and truthful bits of information get out to the public. The trouble is that there is such sheer volume of stuff now that no human has the mental capacity to sift and sort through the teraflops of information in search of facts and truths. Right-wing outlets like Fox News, Newsmax, and the "fringe" outlets like Infowars, the left-wing outlets like MSNBC and Mother Jones and Huffington Post all endlessly shout at us and all the others to "WAKE UP SHEEPLE!"
We look around us and see the "financial crises" is not just an American thing...it's all over. The UK, Greece, Spain, now Italy "may default" on its debts; severe "austerity measures" (which only affect the poor and working people of course) are installed, there are street riots for a bit and then...ho hum. Ask Somalia, they have been without any government at all for 20 years or so and tens of thousands literally starve in the streets and still some say they would rather see their children die than accept aid from the West. You can't fix stupid. All of this can't possibly be about "our" debt ceiling or budget deficit, now can it? Maybe it's about us and them again, this time (again) about the haves vs. the have-nots. "As consumer spending and wages fall, the New York Times reported Thursday that sales of luxury goods to the wealthy are approaching pre-recession levels. The Times reported the sale of luxury goods—including $1,650 Crème de la Mer facial creams, $2,495 Louboutin suede boots, $11,950 Gucci coats and $200,000 Mercedes Benz sedans—increased 11.6 percent in July, the biggest monthly gain in more than a year." Source.
Have you ever read the entire US Constitution? How about the Project for the New American Century? The entire Bible? It has been shown many times over that a random asking of "people on the street" questions about the history of the country, of the world, of being able to identify current American leaders, always results in very few correct answers. Most people find such things excruciatingly boring, most are much more self-absorbed in their personal moment-to-moment affairs, and the trivial things of the day. For many who DO actually read things like the Bible and spend much time with it, the result is preachers who are actually atheists who feel trapped in the social condition, unable to be honest without losing virtually everything they have, including, many times, their entire family.
So, who was at the last G-20 or G-7 or whatever G meeting they had...what did they say? Are there really Illuminati groups working to day to control the world? Who attended the Bilderberg meeting this year and what did THEY talk about? Chances are the vast majority of whatever it was would have bored a grapefruit out of it's skull, but...we can't be really sure, can we? None of "we" were there..are EVER there. The truth is that, at best, a few of us may have glimpses into the people and processes that affect our lives, sporadically and through a glass darkly. Most never have the slightest clue who is running things or why or WHETHER anyone is running things. Most humans seem to shut down this part of the mind, perhaps as a survival technique, with some version of "turn it over to God", and never mind that if there were a God it would be responsible for vastly more human suffering and atrocities than any government could ever devise.
So...I only had two teeth left on the whole left side. These were on the bottom, next to each other. They got loose together and, like a couple of drunks staggering around, leaned on each other for support. One finally fell completely out a few days ago. He has now joined three other siblings in the black plastic cap from a Gator-aide bottle I keep in front of my keyboard for this purpose. There were more teeth in there but some have vanished. Things do that...simply vanish without explanation. The idea was I could get one of those cool little Dremel devices and drill tiny holes in the teeth and thread a length of catgut through there and wear them around my neck. Whole point being that the next time I was around people and someone mentioned "his own teeth" I could proudly drag them out and say, "I still got my own teeth, see!" Now I struggle to afford terlet paper, so the Dremel will wait...some more...likely till all the teeth have vanished into that black hole. The other feller? He's still hanging in but without his bud to lean on he has just laid completely down. When I sneeze, sucker flaps like a stop sign in a hurricane though.
Ima hafta chance me profile pic at Facebook. My friends already know who I am but some of the newer folk keep calling me "ma'm". Hey, when a feller works hard to get this ugly AND grows a beard, it's a tad discombobulatin' to be called "ma'm".
This little trailer we live in is just that... a tin can. I'm pretty sure it's older than I am and it has no insulation at all in the walls, which is why I can sit 4 feet from the AC on full blast with a high velocity fan in front of that blowing straight on me and it's still so hot in here, some days between about noon and 7 or 8 in the evening, that even that blowing wind won't evaporate the sweat off Melinda and I which means there is no sleep during that time no matter how sleepy or tired. The trailer itself has the potential to be a fairly nice place to live with a good deal of work, but then again, if you were going to spend that much money it would be easier to just get a newer trailer. Landlady offered to sell it to us for only $1000 but there are problems with that.
We'd still be paying rent for the land it sits on; it would require much work and money to make it come up to code even, not to mention be efficient and comfortable; the amount it would cost to put wheels and tires and all the required stuff on in to move it would be more than another trailer; then there would be the problem of having some place to move it TO. Most trailer parks I know of would never accept a trailer this small and old, so that is a gone idea and when we eventually MUST move from here, it will be bye, bye trailer. Landlady would probably also sell us the little piece of land too if she could but her husband had a codicil in his will that none of the land she was left may be sold, period. The wishes of dead people often outweigh the needs of the living.
Landlady has already been told she will get zip on rent again this month, the third month in a row. On the up side, we are told our application for rent assistance was approved and a check (presumably for the first two months behind we were) will be sent to the landlady, though that could take up to 30 days. Fingers crossed that the Pubbies don't manage to kill that program before the check goes out. At least the final payment on the computer is made, so we will have that to help next month. We already gave up burial insurance, satellite TV, and now without a computer payment, it should be a little easier.
The power bill alone for this month is $232...that's more than the rent. Hopefully, we will be able to shut down the air a little next month if it will cool off. For those who don't know, I have been declared 100% PERMANENTLY disabled by my heart doc, and I have a defibrillator in my chest. With my disability check and Melinda's income when she was working, we did reasonably well, but since she lost her job it's ONLY my check and that don't go very far. She hasn't heard anything from the truck stop restaurant where she applied to be a cook. I'm always torn between trying to be supportive and encouraging and being, what I call, realistic. Of course it's possible she might get a job somewhere, she does keep trying, but I won't hold my breath.
Now, we're trying to work on the grass. Landlady says the insurance people will inspect next month and they may drop her coverage with the grass as high as it is. I didn't think it was such a big deal myself, even the highest grass is no more than 4 or 5 feet and you can still see the propane tank if you look closely. All you have to do is wait till winter and the cold will make it all go away. It's probably no more than 50 feet from our porch to the storage shed, but it was all I could do to walk that far in that kind of grass, much less trying to push a mower through it. We managed to get it fired up and I made a few swaths across the yard and then almost fell out. Made it back to the porch and got inside but poor old heart was chugging like the Orange Blossom Special and I was getting nauseous. Melinda has managed to get 90% of the front yard done, but rain is coming. I hate seeing her work that hard especially because she is not in all that much better shape than I am. I see pickups with big rider mowers on trailers going by on the road all the time. Would be very simply for someone like that to either cut the grass or at least let me borrow the rider. I enjoy mowing when I have a powerful rider to mow with. I would do that if I had the mower and knew of someone who needed their yard mowed. I'd do it just for fun, of course, not charge them a cent of money. *sigh*
I think it's time to try applying for Section 8 housing assistance. As with all things that has pros and cons, but two of the pros I think of right away: wouldn't have roaches running through your food while you try to eat or over your face while you sleep, and very unlikely have any kind of yard mowing or other such maintenance, plus, at least with the one I've seen so far, the power bill is included in the rent. I'm not really a huge fan of being in a tiny apartment, especially smashed up in the middle of dozens of other tiny apartments, perhaps with small humans creating havoc all about, but all things have a tradeoff or cost. There might be some chance of getting an actual house or decent trailer on Section 8 but we will just have to see. The big drawback is most such places would not allow "pets", though they are typically far less destructive and troublesome than the small humans... I won't leave or sacrifice my boy Tucker...I'm no Abraham.
There is very little about the current monetary system in use the world over that is not utterly fraudulent or, at the very least, misleading. Everything from the very existence of the system as a whole to the definitions of terms. Here's one example of a definition from "investorwords.com":
credit:
1. A contractual agreement in which a borrower receives something of value now and agrees to repay the lender at some later date. When a consumer purchases something using a credit card, they are buying on credit (receiving the item at that time, and paying back the credit card company month by month). Any time when an individual finances something with a loan (such as an automobile or a house), they are using credit in that situation as well. Source.
Do you see what, in the definition above, is misleading or inaccurate? This phrase..."purchases something using a credit card..." This is something that is not possible. Yes, I know many people and dictionaries do put various spins on terms, but my definition of a completed purchase is "when someone has received something of value AND has completed all agreements to pay or reimburse" for that thing. A purchase is at least a two-step transaction; an exchange of "money or its equivalent" for "something of value" If you have taken possession of the "something of value" and have only made a "promise to pay", the transaction is not complete. It cannot be complete until the promise is honored and actual payment is made, or the promise is withdrawn and the "thing" returned, etc.
When a person typically "buys" something with a credit card, only half a transaction has occurred. You have taken possession of the "thing" and made a promise to pay. You have also transferred your debtor from the person, store or company from whom you are acquiring the thing, to the credit card company. The person, store or company has received their agreed upon payment but the transaction is not complete on your end. You have not bought the "thing", you have arranged for someone else to buy it for you in exchange for your promise to pay THEM in the future. If all goes well, you pay the secondary "debtor" AND almost always an added fee for the convenience of having acquired the "thing" you wanted earlier than you probably otherwise could. If all does NOT go well and you are unable to pay your secondary debtor...
Often the "thing" you acquired is completely consumed, thus removing any option to return it and cancel the debt. At this point (or sooner, depending on how you look at it) you have become an indentured servant to the credit card company. You OWE. You are expected to work to pay your debt. If, for whatever reason, you cannot work and pay your debt, then your reputation in the monetary and social systems have been damaged. No one cares WHY you did not pay, least of all the credit card company, only that you did not. This has a very negative effect on your "credit worthiness" and this might be fine except for the fact that our society attaches the moral "worth" of a human being to how much money and/or possessions they have and whether they are able to "pay their bills". Everyone knows that people who "don't pay their bills" are people of "low character" or worth. There is no relevance attached to WHY one has not paid the bills.
This brings us back to why anyone would engage in any credit transactions in the first place. How many reasons are there for this? Perhaps simple greed..."I want this now". Perhaps the person has bought into the social mythology meme that their worth as a person is determined by how much money and/or things they have. They may or may not fully realize the folly of this attempt to get that "acceptance", but it is so important to most that they will continually repeat the credit transactions to at least give the appearance of being wealthier (and thus worth more as a person) - all the while growing poorer - than they actually are. After all, most polls show us that "appearance" is often far more important than actual truth or substance.
Sometimes the "thing" acquired through "credit" is actually of literal and immediate life and death importance. Typically this would be medical care, but in some instances it may even be as simple as food. Many people are so emotionally attached to the concept of a person's worth being indicated by their wealth status ("how much is he worth?" is still a common expression), that they are perfectly willing to allow people to simply die, rather than engaging in what their paranoid fear calls "socialism", i.e., people helping people via government action.
You don't have to pay actual cash money for your purchases, you know. There are things that look almost identical to credit cards, but work very differently. They are called debit cards. With this kind of card, when you make a purchase, it is actually a genuine purchase, a completed transaction. You have "bought" the "thing" and have instantly paid for it. You do not OWE. The net effect is exactly the same as using actual cash. The trouble is, this kind of card also has the same "drawback" as using actual cash. It will not allow one to maintain their illusion that they have more (and are thus worth more) than they actually do. And if you do not have as much as you would like to have or pretend to have, what does this mean? Does it really mean your worth as a human is less than you thought? Maybe that is a lie designed to enslave you. Could it possibly be that you are not given a fair or just payment or compensation for your work in the first place? Perhaps if you were, you would never have any trouble acquiring all the things you really need, whatever they might be? Perhaps you should consider another meaning of the word "credit": "5. Public acknowledgment or praise, typically that given or received when a person's responsibility for an action or idea becomes or is made apparent." Perhaps if everyone got much more of this kind of credit they would feel far less need for the other slavery kind of credit?
